We’ve heard it before, we’ll hear it again: a network of many simple parts trumps one big complex monolith. It’s a story that keeps on surprising us, but probably shouldn’t.

That observation is a great introduction to philospher Nelson Goodman's riddle about
induction and the color Grue
[ via Mark ].
There are patterns that are strongly wired into our brains, patterns where we look
for monolithic solutions instead of many simpler parts interacting using
simple rules. Breaking from that monolithic mindset is always controversial. You
need only look at the contemporary reactions surrounding the advent of
evolution and the invisible hand of Adam Smith to see what I mean.